Improvement in mowing-machines



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Letters Patent No. 95,807, dated October 12, 1869.

` VIIIMIPROV'IWENJZ' IN MOWING-MACHINES.

'.Llae Schedule referred. bo in thes'e Latter! Patent and making part of the eamo.

To all 'whom t tma/y concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. KENY'ON, of Wakefield, in the county of Kent, and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mowing-Machines; and do hereby declare the following to be a full and correct description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and to the letters and numbers of reference marked thereon, similar letters and numbers being used in all the figures to denote the same part'. f.

In these drawings- Figure l is a vertical section of the machine, taken through from front to back near the middle.

Figure 2 is a top view, the seat being removed.

Figure 3 is a top View of the parts for moving the knifebar, the cover being removed.

Figure 4 shows a guard-finger with top removed.A

Figure' is a side View of guard-finger.

Figure 6 is a cross-section of same, taken through in the direction of the line x in g. 5.

The nature of my improvements consist- First, inmaking an auxiliary Vframe, supported at one end by the axle, and at the other end by a wheel running on the ground, to take the weight of the cutting-apparatus when raised from the ground, instead ofleaving it on the pole and horse.

Second, in the motion for the cutting-bar being more directly communicated, and a cover provided to keep the grass and dirt out of it, and construction of the guard-fingers.

The construction is as follows:

A is the main frame, placed on the axle C, between the two driving-wheels B and- 1).

G is an auxiliary frame, consisting of a bar, with one end on the axle, between the side of the main trame and the driving-wheel nearest the cutter, and the other suppoited in front by a wheel, S, and a brace-bar fastened to theother in front, and ext-ending diagonally back to the axlenear the other side of the main frame.'` -This auxiliary frame projects out in front of the axle, and provides a steady support, not varying with the up-and-down motion of the pole, to hold the working-parts that raise and lower the cutter-frame, and determine the height at which it shall cut, with great uniformity. l I

A pulley, t, with a ratchet-wheel, o, is i" stened to a short shaft, turning in a bearing in this frame G,

and on the outer end of the shaft, a small gear-wheel, o, is secured. Y

A little back of this shaft is a segment of an inside gear-wheel, r, with a. lever, j', attached to it, the segment being pivoted to the frame G, and its teeth meshing into the pinion'o.'

A chain, p, is attached to the frontend of the main frame, and passing up to the pulley t,is fastened to it.

Another chain, w, is attached to the front end of the shoe E, and carried up to the frame G, and liooked to it, for the purpose of regulating the drop of the cutter-bar J, when raised to clear obstructions.

The shoe E is fast to the guard-bar I, and is hung in standards e c, attached to the main frame A.

Motion is conveyed to the knife-bar a: by a segment-gear, o', moving on a pivot in the linger-bar or shoe, and meshing into arack made in the back ot' the cutter-bar; a connecting-bar, g, having one end pinned to the segment o', and the other end on the crank-pin in plate c.'

This plate is fast to the shaft f, which receives its' motion through the gear-wheels d and a' and the pinions 'i li,.which mesh into the inter al 'gear-wheels is' fon the driving-wheels.

Y is a cover, which keeps the grass and dirt out of@ the segment and rack tit t move the cutter-bar, and is hinged at the forward end, to admit of its heilig opened for oiling, 86o. v

A draught-chain, H, is fastened to the pole j, and passing through a staple in the pole, is hooked into a plate, b, on the front end of the frame A, there being several holes in the plate, 'of different heights, to vary the direction, if desired.

The guard-linger is made with two recesses, to hold the ledger-blades, which consist of two plates, z z, one in each of the two recesses of each finger, (see iig. 4.) They may be made with pivots on their inner corners, fitting into sockets in theends of the recesses; or they may be made to turn on the lower corne-rs of their inner edges, so as to roll their outer edges up against thecutters, and make a close cut. Springs may be put under them, to assist in pressing them up, if necessary.

When the plates are not made with pivots, projections, n n, (see figs. Land 5,) are made on the edge4 ofthe guard-fingers, to keep them in place.

The outer edges of the. blades are made with lips, h h, (see iig. 6,) which project down over the sides of the guard-fingers, to keep the grass and dirt from clogging them up. l v

1 am aware that ledger-blades have been constructed in a variety of forms, and secured to the fingers in various ways, but hot as above described.

p rlhe operation is as follows:

The driving-wheels B D give motion to the pinions 'i 'i by the gear-wheels s s', which drive the shaft, and gear-wheel lr gearing into the pinion `d on the shaft f, to which the plate c is fastened. A connecting-rod, g, conveys motion from a pin in this plate to the segment-gear o', which moves .the knife-bar a;

back and forward, to cut the grass against the guardtingers, as usual.

\Vhen it is necessary to mise the cutting-amiamtus, to pass obstructions, by drawing back the level-j', the segment e will' turn the pulley t, and raise the frmne A and all attached to it, and it can be held up by pushing in the pmvl-lever m.

By hooking up the chain u', to any desired height, the cutting-apparatus will always drop buck to the proper place, when released, :Liter having been raised t0 pass :tu obstruction.

The draught-chain H muy be hooked higher or lower in the plete b, so as to vary the direction of the draught.

lThe Weight of the pole j, and also of the driver, may be supported by the auxiliaryframe G, if' desired to relieve the horses.

Having thus described my improvements,

That I clztiin as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Pal-tent, is

l. The segmental gein' o', in combination with the cutter-bnr x zuid lche connecting-bnr g, :is and for the purpose specified.

2. VThe chain u', in combination with the shoe E und auxiliary frame G, substantially its and for thel purpose set forth.

3. The cover Y, in combination with the parts that move. the knifebrtr, substantially :is specified, and forv 

